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It didn't dawn on me that there might be a few holes in my education until I was about 35. I'd just bought a house, the pipes needed fixing, and the plumber was standing in my kitchen. There he was, a short, beefy guy with a goatee and a Red Sox cap and a thick Boston accent, and I suddenly learned that I didn't have the slightest idea what to say to someone like him. So alien was his experience to me, so unguessable his values, so mysterious his very language, that I couldn't succeed in engaging him in a few minutes of small talk before he got down to work. Fourteen years of higher education and a handful of Ivy League degrees, and there I was, stiff and stupid, struck dumb by my own dumbness. "Ivy retardation," a friend of mine calls this. I could carry on conversations with people from other countries, in other languages, but I couldn't talk to the man who was standing in my own house.
It's not surprising that it took me so long to discover the extent of my miseducation, because the last thing an elite education will teach you is its own inadequacy. As two dozen years at Yale and Columbia have shown me, elite colleges relentlessly encourage their students to flatter themselves for being there, and for what being there can do for them. The advantages of an elite education are indeed undeniable. You learn to think, at least in certain ways, and you make the contacts needed to launch yourself into a life rich in all of society's most cherished rewards. To consider that while some opportunities are being created, others are being cancelled and that while some abilities are being developed, others are being crippled is, within this context, not only outrageous, but inconceivable.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Thursday December 29 2016, @01:53AM
I have a college degree, but one of my best friends is a plumber. (Who has less problems with his computer since I installed Linux on it for him!)
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 29 2016, @11:44AM
Curious, which of you makes more? I know it's technically possible for my codemonkey self to make more than a good plumber but it would require a non-trivial amount more work than the plumber has to put in. I've been both is how I know this. I picked the lesser paying position because it allows me to never have to look at or touch anyone's shit again, only listen to it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Thursday December 29 2016, @12:46PM
To me, a code monkey and plumber aren't that different as they are both demanding jobs. They are just demanding in different domains. I've done basic plumbing, sweat copper pipe, some black iron for gas lines, PVC waste lines, etc. Not too bad nor mentally challenging though you do have to have some skills, knowledge, and tools. Though, some of it is messy, uncomfortable, and dangerous.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 29 2016, @01:56PM
Really, I find them very similar. Both require fairly basic logic, a few skills, and a dash of creativity to do. Plumbing is by far the better job though unless you feel a specific draw to coding. The pay is comparable if not better, the hours are similar, and stress is almost non-existent unless you hit a crunch time on a specific job. The only real down-sides to plumbing are you have to actually be proven to be able to tell your ass from a hole in the ground via the apprentice/journeyman/contractor system, a much higher initial tools cost, and occasionally you have to deal with actual shit instead of constantly dealing with proverbial shit.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 29 2016, @03:50PM
Being able to tell your ass from a hole in the ground is not a requirement for being a plumber. When they built our house we wound up with hot water faucets on the outside of the house. Aside from that, it is not easy to outsource your plumbing needs to India.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 30 2016, @01:35PM
My first day as an apprentice plumber I was told the three most important things that a plumber needs to know to be successful:
Sounds like your plumber(s) violated Golden Rule #1.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday December 30 2016, @01:42PM
It is if you want to stay in business or not get fired.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.